The general public adores celebrity culture. It’s only natural, then, that scammers use famous faces to trick us into falling for their fraudulent schemes. Here are a few ways they do it and how to spot them.

1Phishing Scams

Phishing scams are rife. While phishing emails apparently from celebrities are comparatively rare (but not unheard of), there are heaps of fake social media accounts attempting to trick people into thinking they’re chatting with genuine people.

This is especially the case on X. Now that people can buy a blue tick, it’s difficult to know who is real, as that blue tick was a sign of verification—but isn’t anymore. A criminal might think it’s worth paying out a bit of cash to get that tick, so more people fall for their scam. With fewer checks on Meta-owned companies like Facebook, celeb-based phishing scams will likely increase.

You need to be skeptical of anyone claiming to be a celebrity online because anyone could do that. You need to check for some tell-tale signs that someone isn’t who they say they are, i.e., spelling and grammar mistakes, a dubious username (often including “private”), and a lack of knowledge of their “own lives." So, if you’re asking “Hugh Jackman” his favorite X-Men film, make sure he doesn’t say Dark Phoenix because he wasn’t even in that one!

Of course, if a celebrity account asks you for money or sells something unusual, they’re not who they claim to be. Never send money to someone you’re not 100 percent sure about, particularly if you’ve never met them in person. Let’s face it; Zendaya isn’t pinging you a message on Facebook to ask for $1,000 for some random reason.

2Fake Endorsements

Fake celebrity endorsements are a massive concern, especially with AI getting smarter all the time. Scammers don’t have to work hard to create a convincing image or video of a celebrity extolling the virtues of a fraudulent product or service.

You’ll see this a lot when using cryptocurrency.Cybercriminals love cryptocurrency for numerous reasons, but the chief one is that it’s generally untraceable and almost impossible to get your money back. TheDavid Attenborough scam is a notable exampleof this: a duplicitous advert is frequently circulated on social media, purporting that the environmentalist has shares in a crypto coin and has made a huge amount of money from it.

Of course, it’s a complete lie.

Sometimes, these fake endorsements are simply screenshots from an interview or TV magazine program. Headlines say that the broadcaster—often the BBC, a widely-trusted source—had to “cut [the celebrity] off” mid-sentence for apparently telling viewers a big money-making secret.

Or you might see screengrabs of news presenters who the scammers say have their jobs threatened after doing something similar.

Remember that many celebrities don’t even use social media for fear of impersonation, so you should always be skeptical. These fakes often use the wrong fonts for the official source they’re attempting to mimic. Ask yourself if a famous face would realistically endorse a product or service.

3Real Reposts Acting as Endorsements

When a celebrity reposts something, it acts as a form of endorsement. Fans will understandably think such a repost is the celeb approving of whatever they’re spreading online. Sometimes, the famous face in question won’t bother clicking on whatever link might be included in the original post; most of the time, they won’t properly investigate it.

However, a scammer can use buzzwords like “charity” and earn an endorsement from a celebrity despite the post being malicious.

The positive thing is that when people spot something like this happening, they often alert the celebrity. That doesn’t mean the person reposting will notice those alerts, let alone take it down or apologize and warn followers; nonetheless, in many cases, they do, which stops more people from falling for it.

The bad thing is that those who notice a scam might have already fallen for it by the time they tell the celebrity the truth. Even just clicking on a fraudulent link can result in downloading malware.

4Shared Fandoms Leading to Fake Friendships

Cards on the table: this happened to me, though I was fortunate not to be scammed as I saw through the lies. It took a little longer than it should have, however.

If you post online about liking a celebrity, someone might contact you based on mutual interest. Chatting about your shared fandom makes you grow closer and form an online friendship. That’s only natural—so too is talking about other things by demonstrating an interest in each other’s lives. You learn more and more about one another.

And that’s a good thing. But it can turn sour when one party isn’t telling the truth. If the person you’re talking to is a scammer, you might not expect it if you’ve invested significant time and energy in a supposed friendship.

For me, I don’t know whether this would’ve led to the fraudster asking for money or whether they just liked pretending to be someone they’re not. Either way, I wouldn’t have sent money under any circumstances; still, it hurt to know the person I’d been chatting to for some months was lying to me every time they replied.

5Dating Scams

Dating scams can be a culmination of fake friendships, impersonations, and phishing.

Getting to know someone online can lead to love or at least infatuation. It’s doubly heartbreaking, then, if the love that’s grown thanks to a shared interest in a celebrity turns out to be complete fiction. There’s little difference between developing a crush on someone via social media connections and, for instance, Hinge. But both can be a scam.

Sometimes, fake social media accounts pretend to be a celeb looking for a new love interest. These bank on someone simply being curious and tempted: the victim doesn’t even have to think a celebrity is using Instagram like Tinder, as long as the post entices a few followers to think with their heart, not their head. A prime example is the French woman who lost over $853,000 to a scammer pretending to be Brad Pitt with pictures created using AI.

Are celebrities realistically looking for a new beau on X? No. So, if you see something like this, steer clear:it’s always a scam.